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English Lesson – New Year’s Eve Celebrations will see a misty start
Here is today’s English lesson. It is a news story about an Ice Volcano found on Saturn’s Moon. The answers to the exercises will be uploaded on my blog tomorrow.
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New Year's Eve celebrations will see misty start to 2011
Vocabulary
| Word | Definition |
| masquerade-(n) | A social party composed of persons masked and costumed so as to be disguised. |
| misty-(adj) | Foggy, or with tears in one’s eyes. |
| predicted-(v) | Expected a future event. |
| triggered-(v) | Made something begin. |
| revelry-(n) | The act of celebrating, often wild and drunken. |
| backed-(v) | Supported by |
| launched-(v) | Started something new. |
| millennium-(n) | One thousand years. |
Reading
New Year's Eve celebrations will see misty start to 2011
By: Martin Wainwright
Source: Guardian
Fog and mist are set to shroud New Year's Eve and Hogmanay celebrations in the UK, but warmer temperatures are likely to draw out huge crowds.
Tickets have already sold out for the Princes Street Gardens concert and ceilidh in Edinburgh, where dry and clearer skies are predicted to compensate for the city's recent battering by snow.
Cardiff is also laying on a vast array of masquerade, retro and fireworks parties while Manchester offers ice-skating right up to the chimes, when fireworks will be triggered from Quay House in the city centre.
London will be lit up by a monster display fired from in front of the London Eye, with weather conditions likely to recreate those at the millennium. Like the new century, when Concorde flew low but unseen above the Thames against a pyrotechnic blur, 2011 is forecast to have a murky start in all three cities.
Trafalgar Square will as usual be the focus of informal revelry and the Metropolitan police launched a Twitter line this morning to run constant updates on traffic, crowds and public transport. More than 3,000 officers will be on duty, backed by an online map of access, station closures and the like which will be kept updated.
Comprehension Questions
Select the correct answer for following multiple choice questions.
1. What celebrations will be held in Manchester?
( A ) a lit up monster display
( B ) informal revelry
( C ) masquerade, retro and fireworks parties
( D ) ice-skating and fireworks in the city centre
2. What weather conditions will there be on New Year's Eve?
( A ) dry and clear skies
( B ) fog and mist
( C ) a battering of snow
( D ) wind and rain
3. What service will NOT be provided on the Twitter line?
( A ) updates on traffic
( B ) online map of access
( C ) crime updates
( D ) station closures
Vocabulary Exercise
Fill in the blanks using the vocabulary provided above.
- Her parents _______________________ her decision to travel after college.
- Their dancing and _______________________ lasted until 6:00 in the morning.
- The technology in each _______________________ is far more advanced than the one that came before it.
- He _______________________ a new business.
- Moving the cheese _______________________ the mouse trap.
- Her eyes were _______________________ as she watched her son get on the plane.
- The fortune teller _______________________ she would meet a rich handsome man.
Focus on Grammar
The simple past shows that an action ended. For example, the sentence "I ate dinner last night" uses the past of eat, "ate," to show that dinner ended last night.
Circle the action that is in the past tense in the sentences below?
- More than 3,000 officers will be on duty, backed by an online map of access, station closures and the like which will be kept updated.
- London will be lit up by a monster display fired from in front of the London Eye, with weather conditions likely to recreate those at the millennium.
- Like the new century, when Concorde flew low but unseen above the Thames against a pyrotechnic blur, 2011 is forecast to have a murky start in all three cities.
- Trafalgar Square will as usual be the focus of informal revelry and the Metropolitan police launched a Twitter line this morning to run constant updates on traffic, crowds and public transport.
Practice - Sentence Writing
Write your own sentences using each of the past tense verbs found above.
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________
